Students Trained to
Apply CoRT Thinking
Tools Score 33% Above of the Mean on
Statewide
Standardized Tests
Research on the impact of CoRT tools
in schools has been completed by Professor John Edwards of the James
Cook University in Queensland, Australia. The following is a brief
extract from some of this research which demonstrates the impact the
teaching of CoRT thinking tools can have across the entire curriculum.
A major study began in North
Queensland in 1987 which looked at teaching a group of 12 year olds, in
their last year of primary school, all sixty lessons of the CoRT
programme - two lessons a week for thirty weeks. The teacher was helped
to infuse the CoRT thinking skills, once learned by the students,
through all disciplines of the curriculum.
The headmaster in particular referred
to 9 lower ability students in the class who had seldom contributed in
class during their six years in the school:
"It's marvelous. Not just
a minor miracle to change that sort of behavior, six years or more of
habit forming and then in eight months to change it to: 'I have
something to contribute".
"I was thrilled ... they
were certainly startling and outstanding."
Proportion of Students Above the Mean:
|
National |
Test |
Norm |
School Norm |
CoRT Group |
|
Test A |
Learning Abilities |
31% |
39.5% |
52% |
|
Test B |
Study Skills |
31% |
31.2% |
48% |
|
Test C |
Mathematics Skills |
31% |
24.8% |
52% |
|
Test D |
Language Vocabulary |
31% |
42.8% |
62.4% |
|
Test E |
Language Comprehension |
31% |
35.8% |
50% |
Feedback from the children was also
positive, with the majority reporting big improvements in their thinking
and self-confidence, and many reporting wide use of CoRT skills across
the curriculum and in their everyday life. These students completed
their secondary education in 1992.
In the state of Queensland all
students are given an overall level of achievement, based on school
ratings moderated through a state-wide set of standardized tests. The
scores allocated to students range from a high of 1 to a low of 25. The
CoRT trained group had a mean score of 10, compared with a mean of 15
for the other students in the school. A score of 15 would not get you
into university; a 12 would get you into further education. Most parents
in the state would kill for a one point jump in Overall Performance
score. These results reinforce the obvious potential of programs such as
CoRT for improving the thinking of students, particularly if the skills
are infused broadly through the curriculum and reinforced once learnt.
Excerpts from: "Research and
Realities in Teaching and Learning,"
by Dr John Edwards, Associate Professor of Education, James Cook
University of North Queensland, Australia.
|
